Disney Digital Studio Serviceshttp://disneydigitalstudio.com
Thu, 08 Jan 2015 00:27:02 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.1The Baymax Buzz: Behind the Mix of Big Hero 6http://disneydigitalstudio.com/4291/the-baymax-buzz-behind-the-mix-of-big-hero-6/
http://disneydigitalstudio.com/4291/the-baymax-buzz-behind-the-mix-of-big-hero-6/#commentsThu, 27 Nov 2014 17:47:27 +0000http://disneydigitalstudio.com/?p=4291Just a year after audiences sang along with Elsa, Anna, and friends in the #1 animated film of all time, Frozen, Walt Disney Animation Studios brings to the screen their newest story, one of friendship, courage, and the power of underdogs – in the latest extravaganza, Big Hero 6! Directed by Don Hall (Winnie The ...]]>

Just a year after audiences sang along with Elsa, Anna, and friends in the #1 animated film of all time, Frozen, Walt Disney Animation Studios brings to the screen their newest story, one of friendship, courage, and the power of underdogs – in the latest extravaganza, Big Hero 6! Directed by Don Hall (Winnie The Pooh) and Chris Williams (Bolt) and produced by Roy Conli (Tangled), this film is the first Disney animated feature inspired by a Marvel comic book of the same name.

To bring the sound of this film to the screen and to audiences, Walt Disney Animation Studios partnered with both Lucasfilm’s Skywalker Sound and the on-lot team at Walt Disney Studios Sound. Together, they helped to create an intricate web of action-packed sound sequences, which complimented an energetic score by composer Henry Jackman, and was buoyed by a unique complexion of carefully designed sound effects to personify the main characters, in particular, Baymax.

As the over-sized inflatable healthcare robot and loveable star of this feature, Baymax required special, attentive care to create his multi-dimensional character. Shannon Mills, Skywalker’s Supervising Sound Editor and Sound Designer on the film, discusses sound sources used to perfect Baymax’s robotic, yet heart-warming character. He says one of the main sounds used in the Baymax treatment was contrived from a ‘squeeky’ exercise ball used at his desk at Northern California’s Skywalker Sound: “We were able to create a lot of really great sounds with it for Baymax in his inflatable, vinyl form. It really helped bring the character to life, both cute and funny. It was very important to the sound design team that Baymax retained his kid-friendly demeanor without becoming overly robotic. “

“Following the art and emotion of the film, we didn’t want to be locked into one treatment that was just robot the whole time. We had to control his performance so that Baymax did not sound electronic,” says David Fluhr, Dialogue and Music Re-recording Mixer on the feature.

When using Dolby Atmos, the process becomes “object’ based, as opposed to “track” based mixing. In other words each character (or a sound effect or musical instrument) can be assigned as an ‘object’, and moved in a sonic 3-d space–with greater precision and clarity than ever before. The panning and movement are perceived at a much higher resolution than ever before, making the experience much more enjoyable to an audience. At Walt Disney Studios Sound, we have developed a proprietary workflow, which allows us to mix in ‘native’ Atmos, and then create all of the ‘conventional’ versions afterwards.

As part of the leadership team at Disney Digital Studio Services, Brian Saunders, leads the creative sound operation at Walt Disney Studios Sound, and is also responsible for Studio Operations’ delivery of foreign dubbed mixes. For Big Hero 6, Saunders, working with Feature Animation, brought Fluhr into the localization process to ensure that international versions of Big Hero 6delivered the same sound experience that domestic audiences enjoyed.

After the domestic mix completed on Walt Disney Studios’ Stage A, the duo spent time in London at Shepperton Studios, mixing the international versions in its 40 plus languages, tweaking the Baymax treatment to adapt to the needs of the various languages. Both mixes, international and domestic, were done using Dolby Atmos technology including as many as 128 discrete audio tracks and up to 64 unique speaker feeds on the stage. Saunders notes, “When you add the Atmos mix, plus the work for Baymax, this is what makes the movie interesting and unique.”

Saunders and Fluhr also play an important strategic role in helping to lead the Studio’s approach to new sound technologies such as the installation and the utilization of Dolby Atmos. Walt Disney Sound’s Stage A was one of the first facilities in the world to be equipped with Dolby Atmos. All of the sound facilities on the lot including Stage A, Stage C and the Team Disney 1 mixing facilities have recently undergone major upgrades including Atmos, stage of the art Euphonix mixing consoles, significant Pro Tools resources and a robust storage infrastructure – making the facilities at Disney some of the most powerful mixing environments in the world.

On Big Hero 6, Fluhr states, “I was so happy to be able to utilize our new facilities that we have built here. We are now equipped to handle the very largest films on the lot. And on Big Hero 6, it was perfect because the film was so large sonically, and required a huge amount of resources, that we really needed to expand the number of stages in order to deliver the film. We used the newly rebuilt Stage C for our Atmos and Imax print mastering. The forward thinking to make the stages exactly alike, as well as Atmos and Imax upgrades, allowed us to meet the schedules and deliver a nuanced but huge sound experience. We also used the smaller, but totally versatile Digital Studio Center MIX 7 ”sound pod” to QC our Atmos stems and M&E’s.”

The crew worked diligently to ensure the mix best represented the feature, letting the story drive the creative decisions and weaving a finely crafted interplay between sound effects, dialogue, score and soundtrack.

Driven by a team dedicated to creativity and innovation, Big Hero 6 encapsulates the truly collaborative process of filmmaking as it demonstrates the remarkable abilities of how filmmakers and their sound team can help transform and immerse the theatrical audience in a truly emotional and family-friendly experience.

Don’t miss Big Hero 6releasing into theaters, November 7th.

]]>http://disneydigitalstudio.com/4291/the-baymax-buzz-behind-the-mix-of-big-hero-6/feed/0Planes: Fire & Rescue soars in an Atmos mix at Disney Digital Studioshttp://disneydigitalstudio.com/4217/planes-fire-rescue-soars-in-an-atmos-mix-at-disney-digital-studios/
http://disneydigitalstudio.com/4217/planes-fire-rescue-soars-in-an-atmos-mix-at-disney-digital-studios/#commentsFri, 18 Jul 2014 18:25:03 +0000http://disneydigitalstudio.com/?p=4217Planes: Fire & Rescue, which opens in theatres on July 18, is the latest installment in the Planes story. In the 2013 feature – Planes, audiences were introduced to Dusty Crophopper, the spunky plane that conquers his fear of heights by competing in an around-the-world aerial race. In Planes: Fire & Rescue, Dusty enters the ...]]>

Planes: Fire & Rescue, which opens in theatres on July 18, is the latest installment in the Planes story. In the 2013 feature – Planes, audiences were introduced to Dusty Crophopper, the spunky plane that conquers his fear of heights by competing in an around-the-world aerial race. In Planes: Fire & Rescue, Dusty enters the world of aerial firefighting, with veteran fire and rescue helicopter Blade Ranger and The Smokejumpers, a team of all-terrain vehicles.

“The heart and scope of the movie is pretty big,” says Brent Hall, DisneyToon Studios director of post production. “Production has been going on for about two years.”

From the beginning, Digital Disney Studios’ creative sound department began conversations about how the newly added Atmos mixing capabilities could enhance a film’s storytelling. Dolby Atmos supports up to 128 discrete audio tracks and up to 64 unique speaker feeds in the front, surround and ceiling. Each loudspeaker can get its own feed, enabling precise panning of select sounds and creating a never-before-heard level of audio immersion. “Atmos is a 3D sonic immersive sound experience,” says David Fluhr, who is the dialog and music re-recording mixer, along with sound effects re-recording mixer Dean Zupancic on Planes: Fire & Rescue. “We can bring sounds off the screen and immerse an audience, not just in a wall of sound, but we can place objects in individual locations around the room. We can also blanket areas of the theatre in sound. We have more options than we’ve ever had before.

“Dolby Atmos is an important upgrade to the theatrical sound experience that we haven’t seen for 30 to 35 years, especially in the surround or immersive part of the auditorium,” adds Brian Saunders, VP, Sound Services at Disney Digital Studios. “Atmos allows us to place sound 360 degrees around the circumference of the auditorium as well as overhead. It’s a new tool in our creative palette.”

Since planes and all-terrain vehicles are the main characters, Saunders and the Sound Services team knew that early collaboration with storytellers would be fruitful. “The sound department went to DisneyToon Studios on the original 2013 Planes feature when Atmos was very new, and suggested to the filmmakers that their show lent itself perfectly to the format. DisneyToon Studios moved forward with Atmos on Fire and Rescue because of the success of it on Planes and John Lasseter’s enthusiasm for the format.” Saunders says. “Atmos offers a lot of possibilities and we’re really excited about it.”

Hall notes how important the audio is in Planes: Fire & Rescue. “This movie has probably the biggest sound design I’ve ever worked on,” he says, noting that sound designer Todd Toon began in January 2014, and recorded numerous authentic aircraft and vehicle sounds specifically for the sound design of this film. “In a movie with human characters, everyone can pretty much sound the same when they move, versus an animated film like ours where the characters are all specific vehicles with specific sounds.” Hall continues, “In Fire and Rescue, each vehicle – and there’s a good dozen of them – has its own unique sound that we made sure was accurate.”

“Having this level of realism in the sound design is important to our filmmakers. It’s definitely important to [executive producer] John Lasseter,” says Hall. “To John, it’s important that when you tell the story that everything is sonically authentic.”

Re-recording mixers Fluhr and Zupancic mixed Planes: Fire & Rescue on Disney Digital Studios’ Stage A, the first dub stage in the U.S. to be equipped with Dolby Atmos. “Stage A has an amazing legacy,” says Fluhr, who’s called it home since 2004. “It was the original scoring stage for Walt Disney Studios and while it became a little too small in the 1980s for the large scale orchestras, it is actually quite a large space for a mixing stage. A year ago, it went through a major renovation and the first step of the upgrade was to install an Atmos mixing system. With 46 speakers, Stage A is now at the forefront of the latest technology with video and audio playback in all formats including Atmos and IMAX.”

“Very few stages are ready for Atmos,” says Hall. “Getting on Stage A was important for us, and doing a full Atmos mix has been really exciting. The movie is tailor-made for Atmos, with the planes, helicopters and quite a few action sequences where the immersive sound takes advantage of the overheard sound field of Atmos.”

Fluhr describes how Disney Digital Studios’ sound department addressed filmmakers’ concerns that an Atmos mix – in addition to the other list of required mixes — would add more time. “We can’t add hours or days…it has to be a practical real-world solution,” he says. “That’s why we’ve done the R&D to create the most efficient workflow to mix Atmos as well as the 7.1 and 5.1 mixes. As a result of that R&D, Planes added no extra time to the mix schedule.”

Mixing Planes: Fire & Rescue in Atmos offered Fluhr and Zupancic tremendous opportunities to enhance the storytelling. “In one scene, the characters are around a campfire, with one of them talking and the camera making a 360-degree move. “With Atmos, I moved the voice in a circle completely around the room,” says Fluhr. “I could never have done that with such great accuracy before Atmos.”

Atmos also allowed Fluhr and Zupancic the opportunity to pan dialogue across the screen with tremendous accuracy. “We were able to place dialogue in the space where the characters’ mouths are moving,” he says. “That’s not something we traditionally do throughout a Disney animated movie. What makes Atmos so amazing is that the proper sound is coming right from a specific spot on the screen.”

Fluhr also reports that the overhead speakers in particular are another plus that worked out well in numerous scenes in Planes: Fire & Rescue. “Now in flashback sequences, sound can come at you from above or behind,” he says. “There are countless scenes when we’re using the entire sound space and other scenes where it’s strictly on the screen. I was able to immerse the audience in the orchestral soundscape and take sounds off the screen so we’re not sharing the same “sonic” real estate. It’s like wiping down a dusty computer screen – there’s so much more detail revealed. The perception of sound imaging is incredible, and it really allows you to increase the emotional value.”

Music also benefits from an Atmos mix. The score was made up of a full live orchestra, and rock music and vocals. “The bigger gains in Atmos is the use of music,” says Fluhr. “With vocals and individual instrumentation and choirs, it creates a very interesting experience. We used it all on Planes.”

“A lot of pre-planning went into designing Planes: Fire & Rescue,” says Fluhr. Pre-planning was also important to enable the mixers to do a complete virtual mix, which meant that no pre-mixes were recorded. “With a pre-dub to a smaller number of channels, it’s not a large palette of tracks,” Fluhr says. “You’re tied into your choices. With Planes, we were mixing with all 1,000+ channels live on the stage. That requires a huge amount of horsepower and a lot of management, but that’s the key to mixing in Atmos: planning everything in advance and working within a system. And with the way Brian Saunders and the terrific engineering team at Disney designed our facility all this and more is possible.”

“With the Atmos Experience, people are exposed to sound in a way they’ve never been before,” he says. “Once filmmakers have heard it, they fall in love. Still, we have the responsibility to make the traditional 7.1 and 5.1 versions as good as possible because most people around the world will hear it that way.”

Switching to Atmos has created so many new possibilities that it’s been a learning curve. But everyone at Disney Digital Studios’ has embraced the tools for improving the aural experience of storytelling. “We can bring this creative palette to work in different ways on a variety of films,” says Saunders, who reports that every creative mixing space on the Disney lot will be Atmos-capable by Fall 2014. “Disney is very supportive of its filmmakers’ creative choices with systems such as Atmos. We’re great believers in helping expand the creative options that enhance our audiences’ experiences with our films.”

“Everyone is happy and excited how the mix for Planes: Fire & Rescue came out,” adds Hall. “Now it’s all about delivering this film to audiences around the world theatrically and in the home. We hope they get to experience this film in a way that allows them to enjoy the great care and creativity that went into making it.”

]]>http://disneydigitalstudio.com/4217/planes-fire-rescue-soars-in-an-atmos-mix-at-disney-digital-studios/feed/0And the Winner is Frozenhttp://disneydigitalstudio.com/4215/and-the-winner-is-frozen/
http://disneydigitalstudio.com/4215/and-the-winner-is-frozen/#commentsFri, 18 Jul 2014 18:05:08 +0000http://disneydigitalstudio.com/?p=4215Congratulations to Walt Disney Animation’s Frozen for winning the OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING for an Animated Feature at the 50th Annual CAS Awards on February 22, 2014, at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. Among the award recipients are Walt Disney Sound’s own David Fluhr and Feature Animation’s Gabriel Guy. David and Gabriel mixed the box ...]]>

Congratulations to Walt Disney Animation’s Frozen for winning the OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING for an Animated Feature at the 50th Annual CAS Awards on February 22, 2014, at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel.

Disney Mixer, David Fluhr accepting CAS Award for Frozen

Among the award recipients are Walt Disney Sound’s own David Fluhr and Feature Animation’s Gabriel Guy. David and Gabriel mixed the box office phenomenon on Disney’s Stage A, which has been completely re-designed and re-engineered as perhaps the most technically and creatively advanced re-recording theater in the world. One of the first animated films to be mixed entirely and from the beginning in the new Dolby Atmos system, Frozen made amazing use of this new immersive sound mixing and presentation format. Frozen’s expansive soundscape and deep sonic richness has helped to drive Frozen’s instantly iconic music and songs to top of the chart status. We are so proud of artists like David and Gabe whose talents helped audiences to truly connected with the warmth of this icy world.

]]>http://disneydigitalstudio.com/4215/and-the-winner-is-frozen/feed/0Disney, ARRI and Fraunhofer Partner to Create Hybrid 3D Camera System: Make Believe is the First Short Movie to Use Ithttp://disneydigitalstudio.com/4177/disney-arri-and-fraunhofer-partner-to-create-hybrid-3d-camera-system-make-believe-is-the-first-short-movie-to-use-it/
http://disneydigitalstudio.com/4177/disney-arri-and-fraunhofer-partner-to-create-hybrid-3d-camera-system-make-believe-is-the-first-short-movie-to-use-it/#commentsWed, 04 Jun 2014 18:38:30 +0000http://disneydigitalstudio.com/?p=4177Make believe is at the heart of the Disney magic, and with a new short film Make Believe, Disney Studios took a significant step into the future of “computational cinematography.” A 3D live-action film about a young girl who discovers the power of imagination found in studying science, Make Believe was shot using Disney’s 3D ...]]>

Make believe is at the heart of the Disney magic, and with a new short film Make Believe, Disney Studios took a significant step into the future of “computational cinematography.” A 3D live-action film about a young girl who discovers the power of imagination found in studying science, Make Believe was shot using Disney’s 3D hybrid rig, created out of a unique partnership between Disney, camera/lighting manufacturer ARRI and German R&D center Fraunhofer HHI.

Computational cinematography is based on the idea that, by shooting with multiple cameras, cinematographers can capture enough information to create the images they want in post, manipulating resolution, frame rate and depth information. At Disney, the new camera system tackles 3D productions, with the attempt to streamline a laborious, time-consuming process.

The second and most commonly used method, converting imagery from 2D to 3D requires huge teams of rotoscopers who painstakingly isolate each image in each frame by hand.

“We thought, there’s got to be a better mousetrap,” said Disney Vice President of Production Services Howard Lukk who directed Make Believe. He was attracted to the nascent field of computational cinematography (also known as CompCine), which integrates computer algorithms with image capture. Several cameras capture the object or scene from multiple angles, and the resulting image information can be manipulated in post production. That includes segmentation (isolating objects) without rotoscoping, as well as tweaking attributes such as lens, lighting and camera moves. The goal, further down the line, is auto-segmentation.

How does it work to create 3D imagery? “With CompCine, you capture light fields and then build the image in post,” Lukk explains. “Because we know the difference between lenses among the cameras, we can triangulate and come up with the data we need to capture depth maps to create 3D images.”

This is a technique that has been used for some time by visual effects artists and, in fact, Lukk was inspired by an ILM demonstration of using multiple cameras to create 3D pre -visualizations for Pirates of the Caribbean. He also read an article in a SMPTE publication about a trifocal rig that had been built some years past. Putting these two pieces of information together, Lukk believed it was possible to use a tri-focal camera that could help create 3D images –without rotoscoping — out of live action footage.

With Disney on board, Lukk found other industry experts engaged in complementary research. Fraunhofer Society is a German research organization with 67 institutes each one of which is devoted to a specific applied science. HHI, the Heinrich Hertz Institute for Telecommunications, had already done research on computational cinematography and readily joined the team, as did German camera and lighting manufacturer ARRI. “This was a very unusual alliance,” says Lukk. “It came about because I was seeking the best of technology and this was where the peak of the research was.”

After many months of hard work, the team came up with two prototype camera systems: ARRI constructed a rig for dollies and another for Steadicam. The central camera of the tri-focal system is ARRI’s popular Alexa. The secondary cameras, on either side of the Alexa, were Indiecams, with a 2K Bayer output, all connected to Convergent Design’s Gemini RAW Recorder. Lukk and his partners also worked on algorithms for depth maps, achieved by aligning the geometry of the primary and secondary cameras.

Generation 2.5 added zoom lenses on the secondary camera; each new version was tested extensively “The system has gone through several iterations,” says Lukk. “But our first proof of concept cameras already showed a lot of promise.”

The goal was to test hybrid 3D in a real production, so Lukk directed Make Believe, a 10-minute movie about a young girl and her imagination. Working with Disney, ARRI developed a more streamlined practical rig, and pre-production began for Make Believe in the suburbs of Berlin in August 2013. The movie was shot on location in three days, with a German crew and cast; the movie uses very little dialogue. In one crucial scene, the Steadicam operator rotates the rig holding three cameras around the lead actress, moving within very tight confines. The rig and cameras worked perfectly during production.

In post, StereoD’s team extracted the information required to separate objects from the image with as little rotoscoping as possible, and then converted the movie to 3D. Keeping close records, Lukk calculated just how much time and money the movie saved from the more traditional ways of creating 3D movies. “We wanted to see how much rotoscoping we could eliminate,” he says. “We figure it has the potential to save 30 percent using the current generation secondary cameras.” Given the substantial costs of converting and native 3D cinematography, a cost savings is substantial.

This early stage production also highlighted the areas that the team needs to improve. “We did get the depth maps, “ says Lukk. “But the secondary cameras needed a lot more dynamic range. In dark scenes, the ARRI Alexa could pull out information, but the secondary cameras went to noise.”

Disney and its partners are already at work creating Generation 4 of the pioneering hybrid 3D camera system. The two areas of R&D currently are backend algorithms and next generation cameras. Codex has introduced Action CAM, a very small camera that integrates recording, thus eliminating the weight of an attached recorder. The Action CAM also synchronizes with the ARI Alexa signal and offers better dynamic range, adds Lukk.

With regard to algorithms, Lukk reports that the group is moving towards integrating existing algorithms into The Foundry’s Nuke compositing software. “Once that’s done, the workflow for the entire pipeline will be there,” he says.

By end of Summer 2014, Generation 4 of the hybrid 3D system will be operational. Lukk looks forward to how the system may evolve to become even more capable. “It has the potential to eliminate blue/green screen altogether,” he says. “As it is now, it’s the first step into computational cinematography. We can do depth, refocusing, add resolution and high dynamic range. The technique will soon increase to add high frame rates.”

With 4th generation cameras that offer global shutter, improved dynamic range and resolution for the secondary cameras and a simplified sync system and better recording system, hybrid 3D is nearing complete viability as a system. “We’re also looking at live stereo preview,” adds Lukk. “And, for the segmentation process, the goal is to improve color matching and rectification process; improve temporal filters that will hold edges; and search for the best depth/disparity map.”

“Computational cinematography is where things are going,” he enthuses. “Instead of one massive camera, filmmakers can use a group of off-the-shelf small cameras and then use computational algorithms to put the images all together. Although it’s still five to ten years out for computational cinematography to be fully functional, this hybrid 3D system is the first step. By the end of 2014, it will be a workable system.”

In the meantime, Make Believe, the first artistic fruit of this unusual collaboration, was recently finished. Lukk worked with composer Andrea Dimity to make use of Dolby’s Atmos. “She was fearless,” says Lukk. “She liked the idea of a traveling score, making the instruments fly around. The score really added to Make Believe, especially the stereoscopic aspect.”

Make Believe is on schedule to be shown at IBC in Amsterdam for European audiences.

]]>http://disneydigitalstudio.com/4177/disney-arri-and-fraunhofer-partner-to-create-hybrid-3d-camera-system-make-believe-is-the-first-short-movie-to-use-it/feed/0Restored Bungalow’s Future is Worthy of its Pasthttp://disneydigitalstudio.com/4133/restored-bungalows-future-is-worthy-of-its-past/
http://disneydigitalstudio.com/4133/restored-bungalows-future-is-worthy-of-its-past/#commentsTue, 06 May 2014 22:39:36 +0000http://disneydigitalstudio.com/?p=4133 As one of the oldest buildings on the Walt Disney Studios lot, the Sound Transfer Bungalow is chock full of history. The bungalow was originally located at the same place Mickey Mouse came to life – the Hyperion Studios in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. When Walt’s operation started to outgrow ...]]>

As one of the oldest buildings on the Walt Disney Studios lot, the Sound Transfer Bungalow is chock full of history. The bungalow was originally located at the same place Mickey Mouse came to life – the Hyperion Studios in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. When Walt’s operation started to outgrow their space in Silver Lake he started work on studio space in Burbank. In December of 1939, Disney and his team began the move to the new Walt Disney Studios – along with four historic buildings, including the building now known as the Sound Transfer Bungalow.

Initially the building served as a sound engineering shop and in the late 1980s was used as a hub for the studio’s audio department. The Bungalow’s most recent refurbishment, also in the 80s, housed the team that provided audio and video services including the production of video dailies and other videotape services. This team were active participants in the industry transition to digital formats for 35mm theatrical release prints. New digital sound services featuring Dolby SR-D and Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (SDDS) were provided in the bungalow until this operation moved to its own space in the Camera Building.

Always a staple on the Studio Lot, the Bungalow served as a flexible space that met the ever-changing needs of the business as the industry saw a massive shift from physical to digital media. Disney’s Digital Studio Service’s team recently realized the business needed more practical office space and reached out to the Facility Services & Support team for help in renovating the space while preserving the Company’s treasured history.

In February of 2014, the Sound Transfer Bungalow received a major renovation and facelift. The Facility Services & Support team collaborated with the Digital Studios team to create a modern digital media space that served the Studio’s needs to service both legacy audio and new digital sound formats. Amongst other refurbishments, an old dark room was renovated into a new kitchen with storage space. A wall was demolished to create additional space – new carpet, lighting, and ceilings were installed for a more modern look and feel. Outside, the building got a fresh paint treatment, a new awning, and picturesque landscaping to restore it to its bygone luster. More importantly, than the esthetic features, the digital infrastructure was transformed with modern file management systems and networking and security upgrades. Now, the Sound Transfer Bungalow provides innovative office space for the technical talent in Disney’s Digital Studios.

The Sound Operations team moved into the space in late February and will provide creative sound scheduling, new feature audio mastering, and digital audio and sound preservation services. In addition to the day-to-day management of the sound services operations, the team is also managing the project of migrating legacy audio formats to the new digital masters. Additionally new title audio deliverables for Disney, Pixar, Feature Animation and Marvel is another important role and service this team provides. Updated for a future worthy of its past, the Sound Transfer Bungalow will continue to serve the Studio and serve as the central hub for all of Disney’s on-lot sound operations.

Bungalow on Left Side

The sound bungalow, located southwest of the water tower, has found a new home in Burbank after its move from the former Walt Disney Studio on Hyperion Avenue. Pictured to the right of the bungalow are the “box car” buildings, also moved from the former studio, that would later host offices for the Publicity Department and WED Enterprises.

The bungalow, seen in the center of this 1940 photograph, has moved to its new location at the Walt Disney Studio in Burbank. Formerly the special process lab, the bungalow would serve as a useful facility for the Sound Department.

This aerial shot of the former Walt Disney Studio on Hyperion Avenue, taken c. 1937 shows the original home of what is now the Sound Operations Bungalow. It is pictured here in the back of the lot, just above the sound stage and to the left of the warehouse.

A truck from Golden Oak Ranch is parked outside the bungalow in this historic image.

Support teams celebrate the opening of the new Sound Transfer Bungalow

Special thanks to the Walt Disney Studio Archives for the contribution to the story and photos

]]>http://disneydigitalstudio.com/4133/restored-bungalows-future-is-worthy-of-its-past/feed/0Mixing Mr. Bankshttp://disneydigitalstudio.com/4028/mixing-mr-banks/
http://disneydigitalstudio.com/4028/mixing-mr-banks/#commentsTue, 11 Feb 2014 01:31:23 +0000http://disneydigitalstudio.com/?p=4028In Saving Mr. Banks, author P.L. Travers is wary of Walt Disney, animation and even the Los Angeles sunshine. But she’s particularly horrified by the idea of adding songs to the movie based on her Mary Poppins children’s books, and she isn’t shy about critiquing the tunes penned and enthusiastically played by the long-suffering Sherman ...]]>

In Saving Mr. Banks, author P.L. Travers is wary of Walt Disney, animation and even the Los Angeles sunshine. But she’s particularly horrified by the idea of adding songs to the movie based on her Mary Poppins children’s books, and she isn’t shy about critiquing the tunes penned and enthusiastically played by the long-suffering Sherman brothers (played by B.J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman).

Picture Editor, Mark Livolsi,right and Disney Digital Studios Mixer, David Fluhr in front of historic Stage A where Saving Mr. Banks> was mixed.

With music key to the movie’s plot, John Lee Hancock was a perfect choice for director, say the sound professionals who worked on the movie. “I wanted to work with John Lee because sound is as important to him as picture and story,” says Dialog/Music Re-Recording mixer David E. Fluhr, CAS. “Last year, when I saw the film for the first time with John and picture editor Mark Livolsi, I knew that this was going to be the perfect storm of collaboration.”

Early on, Hancock pinpointed the role that sound needed to play in integrating the movie’s two disparate time frames: 1906 rural Australia where the young P.L. Travers (Ginty) yearns for her father’s love and approval, and 1961 Los Angeles where the she stubbornly jousts with Disney and the Sherman brothers.

“My biggest fear concerned the intercut sequence between the rehearsal room where the Shermans were pitching “Fidelity Fiduciary Bank” and the Allora Fair where a young Ginty is force to face her father’s alcoholism and mortality,” Hancock says. “It is not merely a scene with flashbacks but instead a melding of time periods, where what’s happening in 1961 begins to influence events in 1906, even to the extent of Sherman Brothers lyrics ending up in the mouth of Travers Goff.”

To convincingly transition between the two eras, Hancock focused not just on the visuals but also on “blending the sounds of the periods to smooth the transitions and make it feel and sound like the background of P.L. Travers’ thoughts and memories.” He credits picture editor Mark Livolsi, who melded production sound, production live music, score and effects and composer Thomas Newman. “Third, and most importantly, we had to go the extra mile in the mix to make sure that it all blended seamlessly,” Hancock says, with a tip of the hat to Supervising Sound Editor/Designer Jon Johnson and Re-Recording Mixer Dave Fluhr and his crew.

Music supervisor Matt Sullivan agrees with Hancock that the “Federal Fiduciary Bank” sequence was “the biggest sound and musical challenge of the film.” “During the scene, there is a song (which is interrupted a few times), a band playing at the fair, the fair’s calliope and Tom Newman’s score,” he says. “All that music needed to be woven through the scene. Dave Fluhr was masterful at blending this cacophony of music.”

The job in that sequence – and the movie’s many sequences that blended the two time periods – began with production sound. Production Sound Mixer John Pritchett notes the logistic and technical issues both in Simi Valley (which doubled for the Australian location) and on the Disney lot. “Saving Mr. Banks is at its heart a movie about a musical so one must say that the sound mix, both production and post are, in fact, what a great part of the movie is all about,” he says. “Add to that, that the script is very heavily a dialogue-drive vehicle.”

Johnson brought in Sound Editor/Designer Yann Delpuech, who he had just worked with on another project, and the two collaborated on exchanging sounds and ideas. “Ultimately we kept meticulous detail of Mark Livolsi’s audio track and augmented a great deal of it,” he says. Delpuech describes his efforts to help transition between the two time periods via sound effects. In particular, he relates how sound effects helped make transitions in the sequence when Travers, in a music writing session, flashes back to the Allora Fair of her Australian childhood.

“Jon had recorded, in an exterior setting, the rowdy crowds used in a traumatic scene where young Travers wanders through the throngs of people at the fair,” says Delpuech. “Some of those recordsing worked really well as drunken voices for when she finds her dad mingling with other drunks at the fair; their rough banter echoing cruelly and transitioning back in her present time.”

Recorded children’s voices form another aural cue that helps the transition between the two eras. “When Travers rides the King Arthur carousel at Disneyland, we hear the cheers of the children, the carousel’s music and the mechanical sound effects,” Delpuech says. “It all morphs into eerie evocative sound design as we flashback to Travers’ childhood.”

The wind is another element established early on by a squeaking metal weathervane. “We incorporated winds into the sound design in keeping with the sound design wind themes of the 1964 Mary Poppins,” he says. Also recorded was an 1883 Canadian Pacific steam train that is used for the train that takes Travers and her family to the Australian countryside as well as to enhance the Disneyland steam train.

“We worked with the sound design elements and the music to make combinations that would work,” says Fluhr. “The goal was to transport the audience through time but not take them out of the moment with gimmicky effects or uneven passages.” One of Fluhr’s favorite sections is the “Fiduciary Bank” sequence, as Travers flashes back to her childhood. “The combination of dissolving music elements, singing, production dialog and sound effects turns into one of the more inspiring and powerful scenes in the film,” he says. “What a treat it was!”

With regard to the music performed by the Sherman brothers in the rehearsal room, the sound production also went for the highest degree of reality possible. “John Lee wanted the audience to feel as if they were inside the Disney rehearsal room, overhearing the legendary song-writing process,” says music supervisor Matt Sullivan. “We pre-recorded the tracks with that in mind, using different microphone techniques and an old piano that was in the Disney rehearsals back in the 1960s.”

“We had such fun with the musical numbers,” says Pritchett. “We had an acoustically good rehearsal space but the piano, a lovely short upright grand, was so loud that even with the soft pedal down, we couldn’t hear the vocals, much less the spoken words.” The fix – thanks to production designer Michael Corenblith – was to build a false back on the piano and put dampening inside. “The lines were definitely blurry between the hand-off between production sound and the songs performed in the practice room,” says Johnson.

Mixing on historic Stage A on the Disney Studio lot

The film was mixed on Disney’s historic Stage A, which was Disney’s main scoring stage at the time of Mary Poppins and was where the music for this beloved classic was recorded. “We knew that our production dialog track was superbly recorded by John Pritchett, which meant that we didn’t have to be concerned about needing a lot of ADR for technical reasons,” says Fluhr. ADR Mixer Doc Kane comments that they added one line that changed a performance, when Walt, urging Travers to sign the contract, says, “Here’s a pen.” “We were able to use ADR throughout the film to help refine the story, and not bog down in too much scrubbing of the tracks or replacing entire scenes of dialog,” says Fluhr.

The formula, says Fluhr, was to keep things as simple as possible. “We helped the story by staying out of the way,” agrees Sound Effects Re-Recording Mixer Greg King. “Handling sound effects and design, the biggest challenge was to be subtle. With film sound, we need to exaggerate to a great extent; it is a world of hyper-reality. On a film like Saving Mr. Banks, you have very little leeway before the audience starts to hear “sound effects” which can ruin the illusion of reality. The subtleties become enormous and have a profound impact on the storytelling.”

As a dialog-driven story, says Fluhr, the “team’s mission first and foremost was to preserve the actors’ performances.” “There were many wonderful choices made early on which helped us in the mix,” he says. “The pre-production planning was just right, offering me and Greg [King] the options of prerecorded materials and live performances to blend as needed.” With a score from Thomas Newman as well as production recordings and sound editorial, “it became much more of a creative endeavor and never a technical struggle,” Fluhr concludes.

Livolsi credits the “talents of production sound mixer John Pritchett, Jon Johnson and his team of sound editors, and the golden ears of Dave Fluhr and Greg King” with creating very smooth sound mix. “Dave, Greg and Jon brought the world of 1906 Australia to life in all its dusty, ambient glory and Dave wove together the strands of separate storylines and tonalities into one fluid whole, combining dialog and songs with Thomas Newman’s emotional and evocative score.”

That Saving Mr. Banks was partially shot and post-produced on the very lot where the events of the movie take place – the making of the 1964 Mary Poppins — resonated for everyone who worked behind the scenes. “Editing scenes that were shot a few feet from my office, with the knowledge that the original story also happened in the same spot was a wonderful feeling,” says picture editor Mark Livolsi. Richard Sherman attended several recording and mixing sessions, vivid memory for many who worked on the film. “His stories filled our lunch breaks with exciting anecdotes about he and his brother’s relationship with Walt Disney, and the composing the music in the film Mary Poppins,” says Music Scoring Mixer Tommy Vicari. “Having Dick Sherman within ear shot while shooting the music scenes made for some funny banter,” adds Sullivan. “We had great conversations which really helped set the scene for what really happened in that room.”

On the last day or principal photography, when the “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” song was shot for the Making Of video, Richard Sherman was on hand to play the piano, leading the crew and cast in four or five songs, ending with “Feed the Birds.” “We were all so glad to be there, and so sad to say goodbye,” says Pritchett.

Saving Mr. Banks has “a common thread of experience that will touch most everyone who sees the film,” concludes Fluhr. “It reminds me of why I got into film sound to begin with,” he says. “To help storytellers tell their tales. This one is a special experience that involves the deep heritage of the Walt Disney legacy that our Digital Studio Services team has inherited and so respects. This film will live on for generations to enjoy.”

]]>http://disneydigitalstudio.com/4028/mixing-mr-banks/feed/0Digital Studio Distribution Services Stocks the World’s Digital Shelveshttp://disneydigitalstudio.com/4019/digital-studio-distribution-services-stocks-the-worlds-digital-shelves/
http://disneydigitalstudio.com/4019/digital-studio-distribution-services-stocks-the-worlds-digital-shelves/#commentsTue, 11 Feb 2014 01:09:33 +0000http://disneydigitalstudio.com/?p=4019“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible,” said Walt Disney, a quote is quite literally painted on the wall at Disney’s Digital Studio Distribution Services. For the six-person team that stocks the world’s digital shelves, doing the near-impossible is a job they do every day with gusto. And it is a herculean task: at ...]]>

“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible,” said Walt Disney, a quote is quite literally painted on the wall at Disney’s Digital Studio Distribution Services. For the six-person team that stocks the world’s digital shelves, doing the near-impossible is a job they do every day with gusto. And it is a herculean task: at any given moment, the group handles 700 orders for new releases, library titles and special releases headed for North America, Latin America, West and East Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Russia in dozens of languages and formats.

Artin Nazarian, Director Disney Digital Studio Digital Distribution Services at the door of his office which has no ceiling, inviting all to drop in at any time.

Artin Nazarian, director of the team, reports that iTunes is their primary responsibility – “Apple is clearly the biggest player in this space” – but Digital Studio Distribution Services also handles orders for many other platforms, including Sony, InDemand and providing support for Amazon, Google, Microsoft and others. Each platform, of course, has its own technical specifications and its own language requirements. According to Nazarian, the team delivers between 45 and 50 languages through iTunes for global releases.

The process starts with orders submitted by each sales region into the unit’s order and workflow management tool – ESTN (Electronic Sell-Through Network). The team wrangles supplementary assets such as trailers and posters, and handles the multiple language deliveries, with audio and subtitles; video and the metadata, which Nazarian deems “the primary driver of the entire business.”

Metadata, which begins its life in English, includes everything from the title and plot synopsis to cast and crew information. “Metadata is very, very detailed,” says Nazarian. In fact, iTune’s automated infrastructure is so reliant on metadata that an extra space or misspelling is enough to result in a rejected delivery. All the metadata is “localized” by each region and then processed and delivered to iTunes, for approval territory-by-territory. To make this detail-oriented process more accurate and efficient, Digital Studios Distribution Services developed an input template that checks for accurate metadata and catches errors before the title reaches iTune’s approval process.

Newly named, Digital Studio Distribution Services (formerly part of Library Technical Services) has been part of the Digital Studio Services team since last April as part of an effort to consolidate file-based activities though the Digital Studio. In addition to working closely with the Digital Studio Services operations team headed by Michael Merrill, Artin and team also stay on top of the work of two key third party vendors that ready the material for distribution. “Some orders are very hands-on, where we do a lot of troubleshooting,” says Nazarian. “For orders at an outside vendor, it’s more about vendor and project management.” Even when each title has been approved, Digital Studio Distribution Services remains involved in how it is functioning on each digital platform. “We ensure that dates and prices are correct,” says Nazarian. “We are also involved in resolving customer issues.”

One of the challenges is that digital platforms continue to multiply. In addition to global digital platforms such as Samsung, Amazon or Google, Digital Studio Distribution Services also handles a number of smaller regional distributors competing in the space. “For example, a regional digital retailer may also be a legacy broadcast operator,” Nazarian explains. “In the past, we’d send a tape that they aired. Now they’ve launched digital shopping areas and we continue dealing with the same team.”

Another challenge is the volume of orders: In fiscal year 2013, the team serviced close to 4,000 orders and Nazarian reports that the volume is increasing, with spikes of 800 orders at a time and a predicted monthly flow-through of 450 titles. “Every month the numbers and predictions change,” says Nazarian. “It’s like the Wild Wild West.”

That compares to a much simpler world in the days of physical delivery of DVD/Blu-Rays. In 2006, Studio Op’s delivered 50 masters for replication of a Pixar title; in 2012, that number skyrocketed to 300. “Each different digital distributor has different specs and its own nuances. iTunes, Google and Amazon have spent billions building an infrastructure, with asset specs that are unique to them, which makes our job fun.”

To keep the energy up and positive, Nazarian brings the team together with activities related to development and growth. There’s that wall with inspirational quotes. The team also selects motivational books that they read and discuss, and individuals in the team present relevant TED videos on everything from happiness to customer service.

The result? Digital Studios Distribution Services succeeds at creating a seamless delivery of hundreds of titles in a multitude of specs and languages to the world’s increasing number of global digital platforms. And, in the process, the team makes delivering the impossible look like fun.

]]>http://disneydigitalstudio.com/4019/digital-studio-distribution-services-stocks-the-worlds-digital-shelves/feed/0Welcome to the Digital Studio Centerhttp://disneydigitalstudio.com/3841/welcome-to-the-digital-studio/
http://disneydigitalstudio.com/3841/welcome-to-the-digital-studio/#commentsTue, 18 Dec 2012 05:16:23 +0000http://disneydigitalstudio.com/?p=3841Its Official ! At 12:12 PM on 12/12/12, we cut the ribbon to open the new Digital Studio Center.]]>

12/12/12 at 12:12 PM

Cutting the Ribbon to Open the New Digital Studio Center

It’s official! On December 12, 2012 at 12:12 PM, a new era in the history of the Walt Disney Studios was inaugurated with the cutting of the ribbon for the new Digital Studio Center. Our new future-focused, next generation, digital on-lot infrastructure, was opened by Walt Disney Studios Studio Operations President Jeff Miller, Walt Disney Studios CTO, Jamie Voris, Vice President Technology and Strategy, Michael Jedlicka and General Manager, Digital Studio Leon Silverman.

12/12/2012 @ 12:12 PM

At Disney Digital Studio Services we’re all about “On Time” delivery. And of course, that extends to the opening of our new Digital Studio Center, which will absolutely open on time at precisely 12:12 PM on December 12, 2012.

WE DID IT !

Our new Digital Media Center and centralized digital file-based workflow hub occupies approximately 8,000 square feet of space on the Ground Floor. In addition, we built out the entire Second Floor of approximately 17,000 square feet to house our new Creative Editorial, Sound Design and Global Collaboration Center.

Our new Digital Studio Center was designed to provide a home to the many technical functions that are increasingly part of today’s digital media production, post production and distribution workflows. This new facility will serve to prepare files for all phases of the Walt Disney Studio’s content life-cycle, as well as house a new modern home for our filmmakers and their new increasingly integrated and collaborative creative editorial and finishing workflows.

Digital Media Operations Center – Ground Floor

The Ground Floor Digital Media Operations Center is built for today’s digital file-based workflows, but was also designed to adapt as technology changes. The Digital Operations Center houses a number of flexible technical utility rooms and central workflows areas and acts as center of our digital operations. The DMC features the latest digital file technology and staff trained to offer services including ingest, encode, transcode, transport, validate, edit, conform, sync, QC and media review in a wide array of file types and resolutions. From our centralized open Digital Operations Center, we can monitor the status of all activity in the facility as well as initiate a host of media transformation tasks.

In addition, each of our flexible technical utility rooms, large client focused QC environments and our Digital Review Theaters are built on an isolated concrete slab, with double wall “room within a room” construction to ensure that each of our technical spaces (which can all monitor in 7.1 sound) offers the truest and most accurate image and sound reproduction available – free of image or sound distractions. Each room can monitor in either 2D or 3D with the latest in industry reference monitor technology as well as 4K projection in our Digital Review Theaters. The Ground Floor of the Digital Media Center connects to specialized production and work-in-progress local storage as well as centralized secure storage for media operations. The Digital Operations Center will focus on content preparation and asset validation to ensure the validity of Walt Disney Studio’s library content stored in our multi-Petabyte Media Deport archive “private cloud” service and storage infrastructure. Disney Digital Studio Services is focused on the future of our Studio as a leader in digital content creation, distribution and archive. In our new home, we are well equipped and prepared to help make this future happen.

As technical as is the Ground Floor, the Second Floor of our new Digital Studio Center is all about creativity – enabling it, nurturing it and supporting our filmmakers with the environment needed to finish films in today’s complex and collaborative workflows. Today’s films demand that picture, sound, pre vis, VFX, post supervisors, coordinators, and creative filmmakers need to interact with each other in ways that most facilities simply were not designed to accommodate. In our new Digital Studio Center, we built our infrastructure to not only be filmmaker friendly, but designed to truly accommodate the way films and their teams work today.

The Second Floor is anchored by an open lobby, pantry and conference area. The lobby leads directly to a series of four editorial pods with secure private entrances, pantries, open spaces and spacious editorial rooms or filmmaker’s offices – all with windows and with the ability to completely black them out for screenings. Each room is also built on a concrete slab with double wall “room within a room” construction for complete sound isolation for critical image or sound editorial.
Each room in the editorial facility can be controlled by individual temperature controls, which, in the past has been a huge issue for editorial spaces where one room might house significant technical equipment and others might not, leading to uncomfortable ‘too hot’ or ‘too cold’ adjacent rooms. Each room has been pre-cabled to allow easy access to technical infrastructure and secure networked connectivity to a host of media processing and storage services. A pipe grid along the ceiling of each room allows speakers, projectors, monitors or lighting to be easily reconfigured for individual preference of room orientation. In addition, as the size of a production grows, the size of the pod can also grow by opening up dividing walls to create a “super pod” which can accomodate the post production needs of even the largest tentpole films.

Two Sound Design pods compliment the editorial spaces and provide for complete integration of picture and sound creativity. The ease in which filmmakers will be able to literally walk down the hall to complete sound post production during the critical and increasingly tight deadlines of the film finish will greatly enable Director’s and Editor’s abilities as release dates loom. These rooms can be interconnected with the picture and sound editorial rooms, the feature film mixing Stages and sound support facilities on the Walt Disney Studios lot and through our sophisticated network collaboration capability – to other sound facilities all over the world. These rooms will also help to lower the cost and increase the efficiency of final mixing. Work, that in the past was done on more expensive, larger Pre-Dub stages, can now be accommodated in these new rooms. This work can then feed directly into the sound editorial and mixing workstations and consoles for final mix. The new Digital Studio Center has been designed to enhance the picture and sound creative process through effective and efficient space design and proximity to talent and tools.

Filmmaking has become global. And even when it’s local, members of the filmmaking team seem to be spread out all over town. During certain times of the filmmaking process, it seems one literally needs to be in multiple places at once to finish the film. In our new Digital Studio Center we can actually make that happen. Our Global Collaboration Theater has been designed so that you can literally plug into image Review and Approval, Color/Digital Intermediate, Picture and Sound Editorial and creative collaboration all over the world. We are literally defining and designing the ability to talk to, look at, and create with multiple global creative collaborators in one place. Conference rooms with tele-presence cameras are good for certain kinds of meetings and collaboration, but we hope that our new Global Collaboration Theater will re-define how work with partners, vendors and creative staff can take place over secure high-speed, high-quality, network connections that will allow you and your team to transport themselves into one virtual room. Now that’s cool!

Of Dreams and Magic

Our new Digital Studio Center has been thoughtfully and specifically designed as a space and place to do our best work. We are looking forward to sharing more of our vision with our colleagues and filmmakers as we build this next chapter in services and technical infrastructure here at the Walt Disney Studios. Our team is proud to have inherited Walt Disney’s legacy which drove him to build his Burbank Studio with a dream to create a special place to make films filled with magic and creative innovation. We plan to make our new home one that will continue to fulfill that dream well into the future.

]]>http://disneydigitalstudio.com/3841/welcome-to-the-digital-studio/feed/0Wreck-It Ralphhttp://disneydigitalstudio.com/3645/helping-wreck-it-ralph-save-the-world/
http://disneydigitalstudio.com/3645/helping-wreck-it-ralph-save-the-world/#commentsSat, 03 Nov 2012 23:09:58 +0000http://disneydigitalstudio.com/?p=3645Walt Disney Animation Studio’s newest release – Wreck-It Ralph is a computer-animated tale directed by Rich Moore about an arcade game “bad guy” who wants nothing more than to be the “good guy”. Wreck-It Ralph, which hit theaters on November 2, 2012, is being released in over 42 languages and 71 markets worldwide. To win the game of ...]]>

Walt Disney Animation Studio’s newest release – Wreck-It Ralph is a computer-animated tale directed by Rich Moore about an arcade game “bad guy” who wants nothing more than to be the “good guy”. Wreck-It Ralph, which hit theaters on November 2, 2012, is being released in over 42 languages and 71 markets worldwide. To win the game of today’s complex global releases, there are many teams of “Good Guys” across Disney that have a hand in preparing the various aspects of a film as it takes its own journey from creation to release.

DDSS is charged with backstage technical and operations roles in helping to create and deliver elements across many of our films and Wreck-It Ralph was no exception. We played an important role in ensuring the delivery of language masters, localized title cards and the audio deliverables necessary to create world-wide elements for Theatrical, DVD, Blu-Ray, Video on Demand and Electronic Sell Through. In addition, at a number of steps along the way from Audio Language elements, to Digital Cinema versions and files for downstream servicing, Disney Digital Studio Services provided QC Services – those Disney “Golden Eyes and Ears” that make sure that audience see and hear the quality for which Disney is known.

Releasing a film like Wreck-It Ralph literally takes a global village. Digital Studio Services is part of the Studio Operations team at the Walt Disney Studios. Our Studio Operations President, Jeff Miller built the operations organization on the foundation of his vision for world-wide release featuring local star talent and ways to deliver a film that literally speaks to the audience in the language they understand with the quality that audiences have come to expect from Disney. Through this vision, and a lot of hard work over the past 24 years, Jeff and his team literally created the industry model for world-wide theatrical releases. When you think about what it really takes to get a film into 71 countries and in 42 languages it boggles the mind. From coordinating the logistics in partnership with our International territories, to hiring translators, casting local voice talent, working with our international vendors to record these voice tracks and then mixing or (“dubbing” as it is known) to match all of the levels and characteristics of the music and sound effects so that the local language track sounds like the one the filmmakers created for the domestic version, creating specialized localized language inserts, as well as subtitles for those countries where there is not a “dubbed” track, and then creating all of the film and digital elements that create each local version – and have all of this ready so the film can be released all over the world, mostly on the same day – well, that is a game our Studio Operations team plays to win.

The players at Disney Digital Studio Services work proudly as part of our Studio Operations team with other groups within “Studio Ops” such as Disney Character Voices International. DCVI handles all of the local translations, including making sure that the nuances of the script are translated into the local idiom, to the point that when certain comedy or story points quite literally get lost in translation, appropriate local references that respect the creative filmmaker’s intent are developed to make sure international audiences understand the story points. DCVI oversees all of the talent casting, recording and dubbing. This is the team that helps to make sure that we sound our best in every language.

Disney Digital Studio Services also works closely with our Library and Technical Services team who oversee and coordinate all of the various elements that become the masters that service the deliveries of the film and home entertainment elements all over the world. As our “Library,” they keep track of, service, and are responsible for the long-term archive so that generation after generation can continue to enjoy our films in the most pristine form possible. These “Good Guys” also oversee the amazing restorations of Disney’s classic animated films and through our re-mastering efforts, make sure that the live action films of the recent and not so recent past look and sound sometimes better than they did on they day there were released.
We also parter with another part of our Studio Operations team, our Motion Picture Operations team who handle our “supply chain” including the global operations that facilitate deliveries to literally every place on earth that receives, sells, distributes and exhibits our films. They make sure all of the domestic and international versions, with dubbed tracks and subtitles are made on film, digital cinema, DVD, Blu-Ray and other digital delivery elements. They oversee the extremely complex process of getting these elements to the theaters, warehouses, stores and online portals so that audiences never have to worry about how our content got there – they just enjoy our films anywhere and in any form.

Working with Disney Character Voices International and Library Technical Services, our DDSS Audio Mastering Team ensures that audio deliverables meet the immediate demands of worldwide Theatrical Film and Digital Cinema as well as the soon to follow Home Entertainment release. Utilizing a Disney developed technology called Transfer Manager, all of the international language tracks are delivered through a high-speed connection that automatically checks that the files are named correctly, so that hey can be “checked into” our Library and are in the proper format for the next step. Transfer Manager delivers these sound files directly to our Digital Studio Services Digital Audio Mastering team who begin the work to conform and transform these language tracks so that they are ready for Digital Cinema and Home Entertainment. The DDSS team prepared and then performed quality assurance and quality control checks on the 245 audio elements that will service Wreck-It Ralph’s theatrical and home entertainment releases worldwide.

To help our international audiences have a deeper and more meaningful experience with our films, Main and End Tittles as well as language related on-screen items are localized so that to international audiences it appears that the film was literally made in their language. Disney Digital Studio Services Film & Digital Services’ Title / Graphics team collaborated with Wreck-It Ralph art director, Ian Gooding to create localized title cards, the End Crawl and all of the localized inserts for the film.
The DDSS Film & Digital Services’ Title / Graphics team also played a critical role in the design of localized inserts for Wreck-It Ralph. An insert is comprised of any word, banner, or sign that is critical to the story that needs to be translated in a foreign language. There were several instances in Wreck-It Ralph where an insert was needed. One such instance involved a scene where the character Q’bert holds up a small sign that reads, “Game Unplugged.” Because the sign was vital to the story, a decision was made to translate it into multiple languages. In total, Disney Digital Studio Services created over 170 inserts for ten territories.

The End Crawl, also known as “Closing Credits” are added at the end of a movie and serve to credit the major contributors of the film including the actors, the production crew, the technical crews and many others. In a sense, the crawl is its own special ending and may include artwork, bloopers, and/or teasers to set up a sequel. In the case of Wreck-It Ralph, the end crawl was artful and followed themes inherent in the film. The Crawl had to be conformed to artwork that lived on the edges of the screen and was divided in sections that pertained to the different “Lands” in Wreck-It Ralph. Each land had a unique look with artwork that ranged from straight, diagonal to curvy lines and text to match. Unique to Wreck-It Ralph was the creation of a new 8-bit font, designed by our Film & Digital Services’ Title / Graphics team. After experimenting with several different fonts, the Title Graphics team designed an entire alphabet to match the style of the movie that was not only used in the end credits but also in several of the inserts for Wreck-It Ralph. (The section headers in this article were made using this “WRECK-IT RALPH” font.) Matching the End Crawl to the artwork in the film and the design of the custom “WRECK-IT RALPH” was an artistic process and a collaboration between the DDSS Film & Digital Services team and the Feature Animation production crew.

Digital Studio Services also played a key role in the creation of more than 220 HD files that will serve as the source for DVD, Blu-Ray, Video-On-Demand and Television elements for world-wide servicing. Utilizing our Digital Media Center, the DDSS team created masters that include each of the dubbed and subtitled foreign language tracks conformed with the HD digital image and “packaged” as a digital file, which will be used as a source to create all of the downstream elements. Dozens of inserts for areas of the film that contain English text were replaced in these master files with the appropriate languages so that when these master files are serviced in those territories, those elements will be in the local language. We truly want our films to travel the world and still make the film and audiences feel “at home.”

Those Disney “Golden Eyes and Ears” provided Quality Control services at every step of the way in the delivery of Wreck-It Ralph. Upon receipt of the final Digital Cinema as well as home entertainment master packages, the QC team provides assurance that the image and sound conform to Disney’s own high standard of technical excellence. The QC team is comprised of experts in image, sound and technical specifications and perform comprehensive evaluations to ensure that our audiences experience the films that our filmmakers make with such artistic craft in the way in which they intended. It is only when these elements pass the rigor and high-bar standards of our QC team, that these elements are ready for next step servicing and can then be checked into the Library and Archive, with confidence that these elements can truly stand the test of time.

As part of the larger Studio Operations team, our goal at Disney Digital Studio Services is simple, which is to help make all of these complex processes transparent to both our audiences and to our colleagues across our organization. As players on this larger Studio Ops team, we “pass the baton” to each other many times across the milestones of motion picture production, post production, finishing and delivery. By complimenting each other and making the seemingly impossible, difficult – but doable, the players in this game score a huge win for our Studio and our audiences. Enjoy Wreck-It Ralph no matter where you are in this big wide world. Disney Digital Studio Services sure had fun playing this game.

]]>http://disneydigitalstudio.com/3645/helping-wreck-it-ralph-save-the-world/feed/0It’s a Dog’s Lifehttp://disneydigitalstudio.com/3572/its-a-dogs-life/
http://disneydigitalstudio.com/3572/its-a-dogs-life/#commentsSun, 30 Sep 2012 22:09:17 +0000http://disneydigitalstudio.com/?p=3572If talking dogs are what you want, then a Fiesta is what you will get! After two hits, the Chihuahuas are back for Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva La Fiesta! This third installment of the direct-to-video franchise follows beloved Chihuahua, Papi (played by George Lopez) and his family on a journey that is sure to ...]]>

If talking dogs are what you want, then a Fiesta is what you will get! After two hits, the Chihuahuas are back for Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva La Fiesta! This third installment of the direct-to-video franchise follows beloved Chihuahua, Papi (played by George Lopez) and his family on a journey that is sure to be fun for all. The canines are lead by acclaimed director, Lev Spiro who directed such television hits as Ugly Betty, Arrested Development, Weeds, Everybody Hates Chris and Are We There Yet. In a world where being fashionably late was never in style, Disney Digital Studio Services showed up to the Fiesta early and rendered both technical and creative services that helped the project arrive in home theaters on time and on budget. DDSS recently sat down with Spiro and his producer, Sara White to talk about their experience working on the lot and the advantages of DDSS’s on-lot services.

Editorial Rooms & VFX Rooms

Disney Digital Studio Services provided editorial facilities equipped with high speed fiber infrastructure and a secure Unity Server Environment for the editorial crew and visual effects team. Having editorial and VFX so close in proximity to each other proved to be an enormous benefit and lent to greater collaboration and efficiency. Producer Sara White was very happy with the set up and wouldn’t have had it any other way. “I’m a firm believer that you get as much as you can close together. It allows for spontaneous meetings; being able to pop in and out to see how their doing is key.” David Yrisarri served as the head of VFX on the project and Patrick Neighly was his coordinator. “David had ideas at one point that we needed to bring the overall number of talking dog shots down, “ recalls Spiro, “When David and Patrick had ideas, they would pop into my office and ask how I felt about it or they would ask about combining shots. Conversely, when Matt and I would have ideas, we could pop into VFX. I can’t imagine having them in a different building. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

We’ve got “Connections”

Another advantage to working with Disney Digital Studio Services is the high-speed fiber “Connections” services, which enables one to send and receive files globally through a network of multiple, 10 gigabit per second fiber optic connections with key vendors and telecommunications portals. Often unseen, Spiro and White were very aware of the advantages of “Connections”. “I was aware that editorial functioned very smoothly,” recalls Spiro. “At one point I had four different avid rooms running plus the visual effects department and I was never aware of having to wait. For me that’s kinda the wheels turning under the surface. Also, for screenings, we would send the entire film to the Digital Media Center (Bldg 95). That was pretty impressive with such big files.” This was due to the enterprise class connectivity that DDSS put at the shows disposal. Connecting to DDSS networks afforded Spiro the type of world class connectivity that enabled the production to work internationally with ease.

SoundSound played a very important role in BHC3 and helped to create an environment that supported the story. “Sound is an enhanced character in our movie,” White says. Digital Studio Services helped to liven up that character, providing ADR and Sound Mixing Services. Once again, proximity paid off with Re-Recording Stage A and ADR Stage B only a hop skip and a jump from the Editorial and VFX Rooms.

ADR – Stage B Equipped with the latest in digital playback technology and a world-class microphone collection, an even bigger draw of Stage B is Academy Award Nominated DDSS Mixer, Doc Kane. Doc recorded all of the voices of the talking dogs on all three of movies within the BHC franchise. “Doc was-amazing,” recalls Spiro. “We actually recorded ADR at four other studios and Doc was by far the best ADR mixer. He was wonderful with the talent and amazing with the whole procedure of it.” BHC3 was offered the flexibility of 2 channel recording. Doc used two different microphones: The U87 and the Schoeps which allowed for greater flexibility, with the Schoeps mic having more of a production sound.

Re-Recording Stage A The premier re-recording stage on the Walt Disney Studios lot, Stage A provided an excellent acoustic environment for BHC3. “The stage (Stage A) was amazing,” recalls Spiro, “right down to the ping pong table.” Spiro worked with Sound Supervisor, Tom de Gorter, Emmy Award Winning DDSS re-recording mixer, David Fluhr and re-recording mixer Chris Minkler to perfect the mix. “In this case,” says Spiro, “I wanted the film to be grounded in reality. There is a conceit that when dogs talk to each other, they are talking with human language but when humans are around, they just hear dogs barking. But there are a lot of scenes in the film where you have both in the same scene, so it’s very tricky. So what do you hear?” de Gorter and Fluhr helped to fashion those moments so that they had a realistic component to them and felt more grounded in reality.

From collaborative workspaces to Digital Media Services to Sound Services, the Walt Disney Studios was a one stop shop for Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3. “For me it was wonderful working on the lot,” says Spiro, “The facilities here and the personnel are top notch. Every aspect of being on the Disney lot was simply wonderful.” Never one to arrive to a party empty handed, DDSS showed up with technical services that greatly improved efficiency and creative services that lent to the magic of “talking dogs”. A fiesta on the screen is what everyone will see, but know that the party started long before and Disney Digital Studio Services was happy to arrive early with services fit for a Chihuahua!